.

Category Archives: 3 stars

Another arcade game with a simple premise: you get an unending string of actions you are supposed to perform and when you screw up, game over. Here, you have to tap the screen, or swipe left or right, or double tape the screen, or swipe up or down, or double swipe…well, you get the picture. This game has a solid level-up path, and easily becomes challenging the longer you play. If you lose, you do need to go back to the beginning of the level, which can be annoying. And be sure to leave out the space in SwipeTap when you search for the game.

Another arcade game with a simple premise: you get an unending string of actions you are supposed to perform and when you screw up, game over. Here, you have to tap the screen, or swipe left or right, or double tape the screen, or swipe up or down, or double swipe…well, you get the picture. This game has a solid level-up path, and easily becomes challenging the longer you play. If you lose, you do need to go back to the beginning of the level, which can be annoying. And be sure to leave out the space in SwipeTap when you search for the game.

The game is easier to play than describe, but I’ll try. You’re a little person in a space suit, and you have a grappling hook. There are a bunch of orbs in the air above you. Touch one of them and the hook will grab it and pull you up. But you have to be strategic because there is only so much power in your hook. The farther away the orb, the less power you have to get pulled up. And there is gravity, so as soon as you can, you need to move to a different, higher orb, or else you’ll fall and lose. The orbs have different properties too — sometimes, they blow up after 3 seconds (blowing you up too if you are near), sometimes they fall immediately, and so on. Turns out I’m not very good at it…

The game is easier to play than describe, but I’ll try. You’re a little person in a space suit, and you have a grappling hook. There are a bunch of orbs in the air above you. Touch one of them and the hook will grab it and pull you up. But you have to be strategic because there is only so much power in your hook. The farther away the orb, the less power you have to get pulled up. And there is gravity, so as soon as you can, you need to move to a different, higher orb, or else you’ll fall and lose. The orbs have different properties too — sometimes, they blow up after 3 seconds (blowing you up too if you are near), sometimes they fall immediately, and so on. Turns out I’m not very good at it…

If you like those roller coasters where you flip around in 360 degree corkscrews, you’ll like this game. You’re in pretty small tunnel in a first-person view, and the game speeds you along through the tunnel as it winds and twists You have to collect diamonds and avoid mines. When you hit one of the barrier-type structures that appear periodically, it’s game over. You move left and right by tilting the iPad , and since it’s a tunnel and there is no gravity, there is a lot of flipping upside down. The first person view means that you never experience the upside down-ness. The tunnel seems to rotate instead. The developers say the game has great music, but I play with the sound off—too hectic for me as it is!

If you like those roller coasters where you flip around in 360 degree corkscrews, you’ll like this game. You’re in pretty small tunnel in a first-person view, and the game speeds you along through the tunnel as it winds and twists You have to collect diamonds and avoid mines. When you hit one of the barrier-type structures that appear periodically, it’s game over. You move left and right by tilting the iPad , and since it’s a tunnel and there is no gravity, there is a lot of flipping upside down. The first person view means that you never experience the upside down-ness. The tunnel seems to rotate instead. The developers say the game has great music, but I play with the sound off—too hectic for me as it is!

This is a throwback to the arcade games where you move around a battlefield and shoot things, avoid other things, and collect some stuff. In Spectre 3D (make sure you put the 3D on when you search for it) you are a tank, and you are being chased by other tanks. You have to collect flags to go to the next level (at least, I think you go to the next level, I’ve never made it that far). The tank can jump, which is handy, but it can’t really turn. Who builds a tank that can jump but not turn?!

This is a throwback to the arcade games where you move around a battlefield and shoot things, avoid other things, and collect some stuff. In Spectre 3D (make sure you put the 3D on when you search for it) you are a tank, and you are being chased by other tanks. You have to collect flags to go to the next level (at least, I think you go to the next level, I’ve never made it that far). The tank can jump, which is handy, but it can’t really turn. Who builds a tank that can jump but not turn?!

Sometimes, I don’t download updates to the games I’ve already purchased. Why? Because developers add advertisements, or in-app purchases, or whatever. But I would download an update to HawaiiDrop in an instant. Once I got the hang of it, I found I really enjoy it. What’s the problem? Crashes after the first few levels. So, if it worked, this would be a 5 star game. The game board is a grid, around 8×8 or so. Various squares have puddles of water in them. Some puddles are bigger than others. You flick a puddle across the board, and if it hits another puddle, the two puddles will join. If the puddle gets to big (more than 5 drops), it will burst, sending 4 drops of water outward, one in each direction. Do it right and you start a chain reaction, the drops of water hit a large puddle, which then bursts, and so on and so on. What happened to that last drop of water, you ask? It goes into your “pool” (get it? I made that up) of drops that you can use when you get stuck. Just tap on a puddle to add a drop. Each flick also costs a drop of water, so there is some strategy involved. Level is won when you clear the puddles, or lost when you use up your pool of extra drops.

Sometimes, I don’t download updates to the games I’ve already purchased. Why? Because developers add advertisements, or in-app purchases, or whatever. But I would download an update to HawaiiDrop in an instant. Once I got the hang of it, I found I really enjoy it. What’s the problem? Crashes after the first few levels. So, if it worked, this would be a 5 star game. The game board is a grid, around 8×8 or so. Various squares have puddles of water in them. Some puddles are bigger than others. You flick a puddle across the board, and if it hits another puddle, the two puddles will join. If the puddle gets to big (more than 5 drops), it will burst, sending 4 drops of water outward, one in each direction. Do it right and you start a chain reaction, the drops of water hit a large puddle, which then bursts, and so on and so on. What happened to that last drop of water, you ask? It goes into your “pool” (get it? I made that up) of drops that you can use when you get stuck. Just tap on a puddle to add a drop. Each flick also costs a drop of water, so there is some strategy involved. Level is won when you clear the puddles, or lost when you use up your pool of extra drops.

One of the things I love to see is when a game turns a traditional genre upside down. Find the Way is an example of a game that turns the “maze” genre upside down. I used to love paper and pencil mazes…the really complex ones I would even solve using a toothpick so that I could resolve them. So, imagine that all you could see is the toothpick, not the maze itself. And you still had to find your way out. In a limited amount of time. That’s the gameplay of Find the Way. The interface of the game is pleasant – good colors, easy navigation, etc. But if you don’t escape by when your time is up, you go back to the beginning. So, to escape you basically memorize the correct twists and turns that makes up the path to the exit. Sure, you can pick up “extra time” bonuses along the way, but you basically have to go down a deadend to find them. Which means you have to remember the way out AND the way to the bonuses. In the end, this is a game of memorization. Not very interesting to me. But, it’s been popular on iTunes, so maybe you want to check it out anyway.

One of the things I love to see is when a game turns a traditional genre upside down. Find the Way is an example of a game that turns the “maze” genre upside down. I used to love paper and pencil mazes…the really complex ones I would even solve using a toothpick so that I could resolve them. So, imagine that all you could see is the toothpick, not the maze itself. And you still had to find your way out. In a limited amount of time. That’s the gameplay of Find the Way. The interface of the game is pleasant – good colors, easy navigation, etc. But if you don’t escape by when your time is up, you go back to the beginning. So, to escape you basically memorize the correct twists and turns that makes up the path to the exit. Sure, you can pick up “extra time” bonuses along the way, but you basically have to go down a deadend to find them. Which means you have to remember the way out AND the way to the bonuses. In the end, this is a game of memorization. Not very interesting to me. But, it’s been popular on iTunes, so maybe you want to check it out anyway.

There are different types of physics puzzlers, but all of them have in common that there is some unseen physical force that is acting on objects, and figuring out that force is the key to solving the puzzle. In Brave Ghost, the force is the gravitational pull of different types of objects (plus a bit of gravity). In catapult action similar to Angry Birds, you set your little Brave Ghost flying along a trajectory that becomes a path around the objects. The goal is to have that path pass through 3 other ghosts you are trying to “save.” It’s amusing and the puzzles are OK. A good game if you’re still enjoying this genre.

There are different types of physics puzzlers, but all of them have in common that there is some unseen physical force that is acting on objects, and figuring out that force is the key to solving the puzzle. In Brave Ghost, the force is the gravitational pull of different types of objects (plus a bit of gravity). In catapult action similar to Angry Birds, you set your little Brave Ghost flying along a trajectory that becomes a path around the objects. The goal is to have that path pass through 3 other ghosts you are trying to “save.” It’s amusing and the puzzles are OK. A good game if you’re still enjoying this genre.